Letter: Kamloops band did claim mass grave was found

The editor, Globe and Mail:

While it is true the Kamloops Indian band did not say there were “mass graves” in their initial May 2021 press release as your editorial points out (May 30), the band did claim “confirmation of the remains of 215 children who were students of the Kamloops Indian Residential School” which in fact was not the case.

However, the band leadership did indeed state there was a “mass grave”, only later. Band Chief Rosanne Casimir several weeks after the initial Kamloops press announcement put forward a motion which in part stated: “the mass grave discovered at the former Kamloops Indian Residential School reveals Crown conduct reflecting a pattern of genocide against Indigenous Peoples...” The Assembly of First Nations Chiefs voted in favour of Casimir’s resolution at the AFN’s Annual General Assembly in July 2021 and reissued it that December.  

Good for the Globe in acknowledging your reporting errors five years ago and since, but let’s put all the uncomfortable truths on the table. 

Robin Collins, Ottawa

Below is the resolution which appeared again for the AFN Assembly of Chiefs in the December 2021 update report.